20 Hip-Hop Albums Turning 10 in 2017

For hip-hop in 2007, it was a time of shifting norms, major release dates and emerging new millennium trends. The first decade of the 2000s ushered in social media sites like Twitter, Spotify and SoundCloud birthed the age of the viral single in hip-hop. While vets like Jay Z, Jadakiss and Redman were still pumping out standout LPs, the Internet star found its way into the hip-hop world.

While album sales dwindled, single sales made stars out of once-obscure rappers. Alabama rapper Rich Boy lucked out with the ridiculously catchy "Throw Some D's." The bass-bumpin' single was remixed by André 3000, Jim Jones, Nelly, Murphy Lee and went platinum in 2007. Similar to Rich Boy, New York rapper Mims broke out with his 2007 hit single "This Is Why I'm Hot," which soared to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in March of 2007 after being released in late January. The slow-tempo song caught on quickly and made its way to movie soundtracks and professional sports promotion reels in subsequent years.

From one-hit wonders to consistent performers, Kanye West and 50 Cent, two of the biggest-selling artists of the early 2000s, went head to head by sharing a Sept. 11, 2007 release date. The pair graced the cover of Rolling Stone together and Fif even went on MTV's TRL and claimed that if 'Ye's Graduation sold more copies than his, he would retire from selling solo albums. But alas, Kanye did end up outselling the Queens kingpin, with Graduation moving 957,000 copies compared to Curtis' first-week sales of 691,000 copies. This was the first time two albums with the same release date sold over 600,000 copies a piece since 1991, according to Nielsen Soundscan.

In the age of the Internet, hip-hop has changed rapidly yet these albums listed managed to stand the test of time. Check out 20 rap albums that are celebrating their 10th anniversary in 2017 in the gallery above.